Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Book Review: The Shadow Girl

"Sometimes I forget for an hour or two that she's with me. Sometimes I convince myself that she was only a dream. Or that I'm crazy."

For as long as Lily Winston can remember, she has never been alone. Iris, a shadowy figure who mimics Lily's movements and whispers in her ear, is with her always—but invisible to the rest of the world. Iris is Lily's secret.

But when Lily's father is killed in a tragic accident, his cryptic final words suggest that he and Lily's mother have been keeping secrets of their own. Suddenly, Iris begins pushing Lily more than ever, possessing her thoughts and urging her to put together the pieces of a strange puzzle her father left behind. As she searches for answers, Lily finds herself drawn to Ty Collier, a mysterious new boy in town. Together, Lily and Ty must untangle a web of deception to discover the truth about her family, Iris . . . and Lily's own identity.

Review:
Protagonist: All her life Lily has had a special friend who whispers inside her, Iris is her name. Throughout this book Lily and Iris have to discover how it is that they're linked and who or what exactly Iris is. During the story they find clue after clue that begins to shake Lily to her core. She's confused and without her father's comfort, and with her mother being so distant and locking herself away Lily has a tough time getting the truth revealed. Though Lily grows as a character over the course of this book it's less a maturity or deeper understanding of the world, but a deeper understanding of herself and who she is as a person.

Romance: The romance in this book is very clearly a love triangle, and I have to say one of the most infuriating ones I've ever read, though not necessarily in a bad way. While I don't normally like to pick teams as I feel it's awkward rooting for a game that is essentially (in the author's mind) over. I do have to say that Wyatt, Lily's best friend, started of being a superb character, but after their relationship started to bloom he totally killed it for me by pushing way too hard and being overly jealous. There were many times when I stopped reading to tell Wyatt to shut up. Ty, on the other hand, while there were times when I should have been wary of him I never was, he was always calm and never disrespectful, or talked out of line.

World-Building: I have to say the world-building for this was amazing, not just in the way the author described the world but how the characters developed and how the backstories and secrets were revealed was perfect and came at just the right time to help move the story along. How everything turns out seems so logical and made me feel as though I should have seen it from the beginning but it's presented in a way that made me second-guess both the genre and why certain things were happening.

Predictability: When approaching the overall predictability of this book I have to say that for the most part I was shocked at the different twists and turns, while there were some givens, such as the best friend being a love interest, there were other things such as who or what Iris is, that totally threw me. I was approaching this book as if it were another genre which is probably what threw me off, which is great because I was so surprised when I found out the large secret that it made the book so much more enjoyable than if I knew from the first few chapters.

Ending: I have to say I wish the ending was longer, it felt like there were a few things that needed closure and a few more pages would have been great to tidy everything up. That being said the ending that was resented was very bittersweet, it's full of all the warm fuzzy feelings that a great ending has but it also gives off a sad one as it poses a realistic ending and in life there aren't always happy ending.

Rating:

This book is amazing, even though there were a few things that would have made this a bit better it's still a fantastic read. It comes out today so go pick up/order a copy from Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and sorry hardcover lovers but this book only comes in paperback, but trust me its worth it.

P.S. Check out my Giveaways/Contests tab to enter my current giveaway: My Blog Re-Design Giveaway where the prize is 1 book ,up to $15, from the Book Depository.

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According to the FTC, I must point out that all the books reviewed on my blog were; purchased by myself, borrowed from the library, won in a giveaway, or received from the author or publisher in exchange for an honest review. All reviews on books received from the author or publisher will be clearly stated, if not then they were purchased by me. I do not receive or accept compensation for writing reviews.